


One Way Or Another

by punkandhazard



Category: One Piece
Genre: Flirting, M/M, dad!law, more characters will pop up as the story goes, pining!luffy, so much fucking flirting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-01 12:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6519028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkandhazard/pseuds/punkandhazard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Law's a dad and Luffy can't stop sobbing over how much he's starting to like him.</p><p>But his daughter may or may not have other ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> shit, I haven't written a fic in like months. I hope you guys like it~
> 
> EDIT: I forgot to thank lulawlane on tumblr for helping me out with some really great ideas to include in the fic. thank you so much!! ♥
> 
> EDIT 2: I'm gonna put a T rating just in case.

The first time Luffy saw him he was at a laundromat.

He’d already been there for nearly three hours, sitting by the bench and mindlessly watching the clothes in the dryer spin around until he felt a little nauseous. He took his attention away from the dryer when the small bell above the door rang, and a man walked in, two plastic bags of clothes swung over one shoulder and holding the hand of a small girl, maybe 3 or 4 years old.

The older guy had midnight blue hair, a small goatee and piercings, along with what looked like tattoos along tanned skin, covering his hands and arms and his fingers, even. The little girl had short, crimson red hair and a pale complexion littered with freckles.

He’d realized he was staring at the man and his daughter, or niece, or some child he was babysitting for the day. So he turned his head back to a small, greasy spot on the wall, listening to the loud humming of the machines in the cramped little place.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see and hear the man telling the girl to take a seat on the bench while he loaded the machine. Luffy almost jumps out of his skin when the kid bounces on the bench to sit.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and slides in his earbuds, listening to whatever song he had playing an hour ago that he got bored of repeating over and over. While he scrolled through his playlist, the girl was peering over at his phone, and he glanced at her for a second, then he smiled. Just to be polite.

“What are you listening to?” the girl asks, and Luffy misses it the first time she does because the music is blasting in his ears.

“Ah, just some weird pop song,” he says, shouts actually, then he goes back to shuffling the songs until he finds one he wouldn’t mind listening to repeatedly until his clothes were done.

The girl looks down at her feet and clicks her shoes together while she waits for the man to finish loading the washing machine. Luffy can see from his peripheral vision her looking at the drying machine, and she asks, “Is that your stuff in there?”

Luffy pauses the song to give her a little nod and say, “Yup.”

She smiles at him. “This is really boring.”

“Totally.”

He’s only replying back with very short answers because he doesn’t want to sound like an asshole for ignoring a kid trying to have some kind of conversation with him.

“Ruby?” the voice is different, and Luffy can tell it’s the man that came in with her. He starts walking towards where Luffy and the girl are sitting, giving him a polite smile.

“Are we gonna be here all day, daddy?” Ruby asks, and Luffy raises his eyebrow a little.

Daddy? This guy is her father, huh? Well, good to know.

“Sadly, yes.” the man says, giving her a sympathetic smile. “Do you wanna stop for ice cream when were done?”

Luffy tries to hide a smile when the girl bounces excitedly in her seat, squealing a “Yeah!”

The guy laughs and shushes her so she doesn’t disturb the other people that are sitting and waiting around for their laundry.

“Sorry about her,” he then says to Luffy, smiling, “she’s just bored. I couldn’t leave her at home by herself.”

Luffy looks up at him and shakes his head, letting him know that she wasn’t bothering him at all, smiling back. “It’s okay. Mom’s not home to put up with this ball of energy, huh?”

The guy frowns a little and looks away from him. “No, she isn’t.”

He wants to punch himself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—“

“It’s alright,” he says, waving his hand dismissively. And apparently that was the end of the conversation.

He takes a seat on Ruby’s right, stretching his arm out to rest on the back of the bench.

They all sit there in silence for a few more minutes, except for the loud humming coming from both the washing and drying machines, and the chatter happening between some random woman with another employee in the background.

When the drying machine finally goes off, Luffy secretly praises the good timing. “That’s my—crap.“ He curses, tripping over his own feet as he gets up to go to the machine. He pulls his face up from off the floor and looks back at them both, laughing awkwardly and trying to rub the heat and redness from his cheeks.

Ruby is laughing at his clumsiness, and the guy is trying to hide a grin. Luffy’s glad he trying to hide it because he feels like his heart’s gonna stop if he does, and also because he’s just so _embarrassed_ right now.

He grabs the basket he brought with him, opens the small door and lets the warmth emitting from the machine hit him in the face before he starts pulling his clothes out, piling them into the basket.

He tries to hurry because right now he feels a little awkward around this good looking guy and his daughter and he wants to leave before he embarrasses himself any further.

“Do you think he likes you, daddy?” Luffy freezes for a moment, and he can tell that her father stills for a second too until he looks over in his direction, giving him a chuckle.

She can sense that, seriously?

“Don’t mind her, she’s just being silly,” the man says, smiling politely.

Luffy grins back at him, nervously.

Yeah, she totally can.

Then he’s out of the laundromat without a second thought, and he manages to rush out the door and onto the sidewalk before he can hear Ruby yelling, “Crap!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter was kind of a prologue, and since a couple of you seem to like it, i decided to make another chapter. hope you like it~

Luffy sees him again when he’s at work.

He works at a community center as a music teacher for kids and teens. The pay really sucks, but it’s so much fun because he loves helping others learn how to play.

His weekday classes involve practicing with the teenagers for a musical that’s taking place at the local theater a few months from now, while the weekend ones are where kids can come in whenever they want to learn music.

Right now, he’s playing the piano to warm up, skilled fingers flying over the keys as he plays the opening theme to Jurassic Park when the door opens, drawing his attention away from the piano.

“I love that movie,” A deep and very recognizable voice says, and Luffy nearly keels over off the bench, digging his fingers into the poor piano keys to keep himself steady.

It’s the same man with his daughter from the laundromat, this time with instead of plastic bags full of clothes, he’s carrying a large guitar case and a small violin case that he thinks is for Ruby.

Right now he’s trying to calm his beating heart because _oh my god, he’s here, he’s here, he’s here._ In his class, even. Wasn’t this some kind of weird coincidence?

Ruby rushes in to take a seat, jumping into the nearest chair to talk to one of the kids and thankful that she didn’t recognize him. Believing she was distracted for a good ten seconds, Luffy slams his hands into the keys when she squeals, “It’s you, again!”

He straightens back up and resumes his warm up as though nothing happened. This time he begins to play the Peanuts theme; he doesn’t normally let the newcomers disturb his warm up, but this is a completely different situation.

He smiles in her direction and says, “And it’s you again. Hello, and welcome to my class.”

“Ruby, wait up, we need to talk to the teacher first—“ he can hear the man speaking now as he walks in. Luffy looks at him with wide eyes, and the chorus of the song he was playing smoothly a few seconds earlier just turns into random keys being slammed against to play some kind of weird noise.

He looks over at the piano and his eyes widen in surprise. “Oh wow, so you’re a music teacher, too?” the guy says, genuine interest in his eyes. He finishes his “warm up” to stand up and properly greet him.

The guy holds out his hand for him to shake it and he takes it. Luffy watches the guy glance around the classroom, only to notice that there are only small children, and Luffy, including himself, being the only adults there.

“Oh, I didn’t realize that this was one of your kids-only classes, I brought my guitar because I thought—“

Luffy cuts him off immediately by waving his hands around and rushing out, “No, no, no, it’s alright, you can stay here and play too, it’s no biggie. I’m not gonna like, chase you out of here with a pitchfork or try to throw the piano at you or something.”

The man laughs and something in Luffy’s chest flutters a little, but he ignores the feeling and coughs, turning his head towards the class.

“I feel a little less intimidated, so thanks,” he smiles. Luffy looks back at him to return the gesture.

“Everyone, this is… uh,” Luffy leans his head back again so he can face the man to whisper, “What’s your name? ‘Cause I have no idea.”

Luffy realizes that neither of them really introduced themselves back at the laundromat, but it was only because they were total strangers that didn’t really care about the other (or so Luffy thinks). If he’s gonna sit in the same room with this guy to play music, then he needs to break the ice a little.

That, and he really wants to apologize because he accidentally let his daughter learn a “new word”. Which he probably didn’t appreciate.

“Trafalgar Law,” he says and Luffy continues, “This is Tra- Trafal- Traffy,” he can tell Law wants to correct him, “and the little squirt that just walked in with him is his daughter, Ruby. They’re new and they’re probably not as good as you guys.”

The class jokingly bursts into agreements and he smiles back, and he can hear Law chuckling in the background. He smiles and tells both Ruby and Law, “I’m Luffy, the music teacher. Obviously. Go ahead and sit wherever you guys like, okay?”

Law feigns an offended look and put his hand on his hip, saying, “I’ll have you know I’ve been playing guitar since I was like, 7. Obviously not in a while, but.”

Luffy crosses his arms and grins. “And how old are you now?”

Law smirks at him. “29. I’m turning 30 next month.”

“God, you’re an old geezer,” Luffy laughs lightly.

“Don’t mind this old man asking,” Law says, trying to hold back a laugh, “but what about you? You look like you were born just last week.”

“I’m 23, and I’ve been playing piano for like, twenty years.” Luffy grins at him.

Law chuckles, “You sound like an old man when you say it like that.”

“Yeah, well, call me when you can play riffs like it’s nobody’s business after this ‘old man’ is done with you.”

He realizes then that he’s probably flirting with the older man in front of the class _,_ especially in front of Law’s daughter who’s watching them intently _._

He swallows nervously but Law doesn’t seem to realize it, and Luffy sighs in relief. Taking his seat behind the piano, he cracks his fingers and flexes them slightly when he feels Law leaning in behind him to say, “Let’s see how this lesson goes first.”

Luffy visibly shivers a little and he shakes it off immediately when he hears Ruby calling, “Daddy, can you help me tune my violin?” from her seat. Oh god, she must’ve noticed that weird… _thing_ between them again, the same thing that happened at the laundromat.

Law walks away to take a seat right next to Ruby and pulls out her violin to turn the pegs, plucking and listening to make sure the strings are playing the correct sounds.  He passes the violin to Ruby and she thanks him with the biggest smile on her face. Luffy clears his throat and turns his attention from the cute scene to face the rest of the class.

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Luffy says to the class as they ready their small instruments, tuning and checking the sounds to see if they’re alright. A guitar can be heard over the sounds of small violins being tuned, and his eyes mindlessly flicker to Law’s fingers strumming at the strings of his guitar.

He catches himself staring again when Law says, “Don’t mind me, I’m just a little rusty.”

Luffy chuckles at him and rolls his shoulders, cracks the knuckles in his fingers again and plays the intro.

The room is filled with the lovely sound of violins, flutes, and any other instruments the children have, playing to “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” from The Lion King. He decides to close his eyes so he wouldn’t have his concentration broken when he hears the smooth sound of Law’s guitar reach his ears again.

He soon finds himself singing along to the music, and he swears the guitar stops playing for a few seconds so Law can hear him. Luffy feels a little self-conscious, so he stops and just settles for humming instead.

Afterwards when everyone finishes playing, Luffy quickly slides his fingers across all of the keys and bursts into a humorous tune to finish the song with the biggest smile on his face. The entire class erupts into laughter and he joins them when he’s done.

“Okay,” he begins, “That was amazing, everyone! Seriously, give yourselves a round of applause.”

The class applauds and Luffy can see the older man smiling as he joins in a few seconds later. Then he says, “Let’s all thank the great piano player, too, yeah?”

Luffy’s face suddenly feels red when he realizes the class is clapping for _him_ , which is kinda weird because he’s not used to it but it’s just so flattering. So he takes a few short bows, and he tries to tell himself that there aren’t any tears stinging at his eyes.

What can he say? It warms his heart when he’s being appreciated.

“Uh, thanks, everyone. Seriously, good job.” Luffy says with a shy smile, “Wanna play some more?”

He immediately plunks back down on the bench to play another song when the class scream “Yeah!”s and “Please!”.

An hour later, as the kids are packing their instruments or putting the borrowed ones back on the shelves, Luffy’s flexing his poor fingers to ease the pain from playing piano for thirty minutes nonstop.

“Are your fingers alright, Mr. Luffy?” Law asks, squatting down on the small bench next to Luffy. He scoots over to give the older man more space.

“I guess, they’re feeling kinda cramped. But it’s no big deal, it happens every we- oh,” Luffy cuts himself off when Law begins to gently massage his fingers, getting the blood to flow into them again.

He stares at Law’s tattooed fingers running over his small calloused ones, and it takes him a few minutes to notice that Law’s stopped massaging them; he’s just holding his hands in his own and observing them.

Luffy takes a moment to look up at his face. He notices his golden eyes, the bags and dark smudges under them, probably from restless nights of watching Ruby when she was a baby. His goatee is kind of cute, but the stubble growing along his jaw does weird things to his brain, like when he thinks about kissing every inch of his jaw just so he could feel the stubble scratch at his lips and face.

Right now his face feels a little hot and he really doesn’t want to pull away from the older man. He’s gorgeous, too gorgeous to be sitting this close to him.

He nearly yanks them out of Law’s hands when he hears Ruby squealing, “You’re really good with that piano, Mister Luffy!”

As he nods as a thank you, Law lets go of his hands and lets Ruby grab them to pull him off the bench. He stands up and asks, “Did you have fun, Ruby?”

“Yeah!” she exclaims, attempting to pull him away. “Can we go now?”

Luffy chuckles, then he looks up at Law to tell him, “Uh, unfortunately I have next Saturday off, so classes won’t start again until the week after.”

The older man nods to show that he understands. “This lesson went really well,” he begins, “But who said I only wanted to see you on Saturdays?”

Luffy’s breath hitches slightly and he starts to choke on air because _shit_ , this man’s gonna be the death of him. And Luffy’s not sure if he imagined it, but it took him a few seconds to notice that Law slipped a piece of paper between his music sheets.

His phone number. It’s fucking cliché, but Luffy is screaming on the inside.

“Call me next week if you don’t have any plans, yeah?” Law says, and Luffy swears the guy fucking _winks_ at him.  He doesn’t know, maybe his eye twitched.

“C’mon, let’s go, let’s go, I wanna get something to eat,” Ruby pleads, trying to pull her dad away from Luffy. Well, that’s what it feels like, anyway.

“Okay, okay,” Law chuckles as he finds himself being dragged towards the cases. “See you around?”

Luffy nods dumbly. He is just sitting there like an idiot, completely frozen, as Law picks up his instrument cases and rushes out the door with his daughter.

When he’s sure the older man’s and Ruby are walking down the stairs and far away from the room, Luffy bangs his elbows against the keys and the sudden noise doesn’t even startle him while he’s pressing his face into his palms.

He feels like he’s going to die from heat exhaustion because his face is the same shade as Ruby’s hair.

-0-

It’s next Saturday, 8am, and Luffy is sitting in front of the TV watching some crappy sitcom. He’s leaning against his old, battered couch with an almost empty dish on his lap of poorly made scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and ham.

His feet are propped up on the coffee table, his dog Chopper is napping underneath it, and his phone is sitting next to him. Right now he’s debating what he could be doing on his day off from work. He’d already called Nami and Zoro to see what they were up to, but silly him; he forgot that just because he was off, didn’t mean they stopped working.

He looks at the folded note on the coffee table with Law’s number on it, and he contemplates whether he wants to bother him and ask if he’s got any plans today. He told Nami that he didn’t want to annoy the shit out of him, but all she told him was to stop being a little bitch and that he should just _call him_. Zoro agreed.

So after a few more minutes of thinking, he mutes the television, picks up the phone and the note and dials his number with shaky fingers.

The call connects on the fourth ring and Luffy tries to control his breathing until he hears a high-pitched voice saying, “Hello!”

What? “Ruby?” Luffy asks, completely confused. What on earth was she doing with Law’s phone?

“Who is this?” Ruby asks, actually kind of shouts into the phone. Luffy pulls it away from his ear.

“It’s me, Luffy,” he says, hoping she remembers him. “Your music teacher, remember?”

“Ohh,” she says with a smile in her voice. “Hi, Mister Luffy!”

“Hello,” he giggles. “Is uh. Is your dad there? I’d like to talk to him.”

“I dunno,” she says in a singsongy voice, and it’s kind of adorable. There’s rustling on the other end and the sounds of a door opening and soft snoring can be heard. He can hear Ruby shouting, “Wake up, daddy!”, and Luffy winces because he can tell that she’s yelling right in her dad’s ear.

A few minutes later, she whispers, “I think he’s still sleeping.”

Luffy laughs and nods, until he shakes his head because the kid clearly can’t see him doing so, so he says, “Oh, alright. I’ll call again later when he wakes up, okay?“

“Okay, bye!” she says.

He’s about to hang up can hear Law’s sleep-heavy voice very clearly in the background, asking, “Ruby? What are you doing with my phone, silly?”

“Is that your dad, Ruby?” Luffy asks, rushes out, really.

“Maybe,” she replies in the same voice as earlier. Again, it’s cute, but Luffy _really_ wants to talk to Law right now before he decides to hang up and realize it was a mistake.

“Can I talk to him, please?” he’s borderline begging right now, and it’s starting to drive him a little crazy.

“He’s in the kitchen right now,” Ruby says, and the singsong voice is gone.

Luffy’s starting to run out of patience, and he’s trying so hard to not sound annoyed. “Ruby, can I please talk to your—“

There’s rustling on the other end, and Luffy can only conclude that Law finally got the phone out of the girl’s hands. He can hear giggling and Law telling her off about messing around with his friends when they call, laughing as he does so.

His breath slightly hitches when Law answers, “Hello, Luffy?”

Luffy sits there in silence for what feels like an eternity because the sound of Law’s _voice_ over the phone sends his heart into overdrive. He snaps himself out of it immediately when Law repeats, “Hello? Luffy, are you there?”

“Ah, shit, uh, it’s me, uh. Luffy. The music teacher,” Luffy stutters. Oh god, he’s making this so awkward already.

Luckily Law doesn’t notice the anxiety in his tone and says with a grin in his voice, “Oh, hey there, Mr. Luffy.”

Crap, crap, crap. His hands are shaking again and he’s losing the grip on his phone.

“Hey, hi, uhm. Is now a bad time?” Luffy says, and he praises himself for not stuttering.

“Nah, I just,” he yawns, “I just woke up a few minutes ago and I was gonna make breakfast. What’s up?”

_I thought I could spend my day off doing something way better with you,_ he plays over in his head, making sure he doesn’t mess it up.

“Nothing, it’s just. Today’s my day off and, uhm. I thought I could spend it doing something, uh. Way better with you?” Luffy says, wincing a little.

God, it sounded way better in his head. This guy is starting to mess him up.

“Are you alright, Luffy?” Law asks, genuine concern in his voice. “You sound really nervous.”

“Uh. Yeah, I’m alright, I just—“ Oh, who is he kidding? “No, you’re right. I’m really fucking nervous right now.”

Oh yeah, he can play an entire composition on a piano in front of kids and teens with no hassle, even in front of a very large audience. But this is like fucking rocket science. It’s hard because he thinks he might actually like the guy and he doesn’t want to sound like a total fucking loser.

There’s silence on the other end for a few seconds, and Luffy waits for Law to respond. He gets an answer when he hears Law say, “So you like me, huh?”

…He said all of that out loud, didn’t he?

Luffy wants to scream, he feels like a teenage girl talking to her crush. The thoughts in his brain are all jumbled up and he’s struggling to give Law an answer.

“I said I might, Traffy,” he says, holding up a finger to tell him to wait, and then he puts it back down because Law can’t obviously see it. “Anyway, you said I should call if I didn’t have anything better to do today. So, here I am, on my day off, with squat to do.”

Law laughs; the sounds of pans clanking against what could be the stove can be heard on the other end. “So I see. I didn’t really have anything planned for today—What’s up, Ruby?”

The older man doesn’t put the phone on hold, so of course Luffy’s sitting there in silence, listening to their conversation even though he really shouldn’t. He hears something about Ruby wanting to go the beach, and Law mentions that it’s like September. But Ruby’s not backing down, and Luffy has to admire her determination to go.

The stove clicks on Law’s end as he starts cooking, and Luffy is still sitting, waiting for Law to pick the phone back up. He munches on a piece of bacon while he does so.

He cackles when Law exclaims, “Oh, cra—I mean, oops,” he exclaims, and he laughs so hard when Law fumbles for the phone to talk to him.

“Oh my god,” Luffy gasps, trying to catch his breath.

“I got distracted, sorry,” Law chuckles, “Turns out I’ve got plans today. Ruby wants to go to the beach, but it’s like September.”

Luffy almost blurts out that he heard him and he agrees, but he keeps his mouth shut and hums to show that he’s listening.

“And if you don’t have anything to do today, do you wanna come with us?” Law asks.

He suddenly swallows the whole piece of bacon, causing him to shoot straight up from his seat on the couch to pound his fist on his chest, causing Chopper to jump up from his spot under the coffee table and skitter away to the kitchen where it was quiet.

He stops coughing long enough for Law to ask if he’s alright, and he chokes out his answer.

“Sure,” he says, clearing his throat, and he can tell Law’s smiling on the other end.  “I mean, yeah, sure, cool. Whatever.”

“Alright, Mr. Cool Guy,” he replies, “Meet me at the bus station around like, 10?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” Luffy replies. They say their goodbyes and Law hangs up.

He calmly puts the phone back down on the couch and unmutes the TV, until it suddenly hits him.

Apparently he’s going to the beach. With Law. And his daughter.

Now he just _knows_ he’s gonna fuck this up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again~ i just wanna say thank you guys so much for all the lovely comments on the last chapter <3 they really warm my heart and it makes me feel a little better about writing haha
> 
> i'm so sorry this took so long, i have exams coming up next week and i wanted to get this done before then. but my damn computer actually crashed and i lost the chapter and i had to start all over again, ughhh. 
> 
> anyway, i'll shut up. hope you like it~

Luffy pulls the key out of the lock on his front door, checking his backpack for the things he’ll need at the beach: a bottle of sunscreen (it may be September but he’s not taking any chances), two large towels (again, it’s September, and he is not planning on letting his ass freeze off), his phone, wallet and… no keys.

Where the hell are his keys? How could he have lost them already?

He furiously digs into his pockets to look for them, until he realizes that they’re still in his hand.

Oh, right.

He tells himself to get a grip because he’s going to be spending the whole day with this guy and his daughter soon. But he still has that nagging feeling in the back of his brain. Like he knows that he’s gonna fuck this up somehow.

He shakes off the feeling as he reaches the stairs, until he realizes that he left his dog Chopper back in his stuffy apartment. He trots back upstairs to go get him, because when was the last time he took his own dog out for a walk?

He unlocks the door and it surprises the small canine. He rushes over to jump all over Luffy’s legs, and he laughs because this happens every time he enters the apartment, even if he’s gone for like two seconds.

“Wanna go to the beach, boy?” he asks Chopper, and he yips excitedly, hopping around his feet.

Luffy grins at him and grabs the leash hanging on one of the hooks of the door to put on his collar. He walks out into the empty hallway with his dog this time, and he locks the door again.

Marching out of the apartment complex and onto the sidewalk, he pulls the straw hat he brought with him over his head. He hasn’t worn it in years, and it makes him feel a little nostalgic. It’s actually pretty nice outside for September, it’s warm and sunny.

He places a hand on the sidewalk to make sure the surface isn’t too hot for Chopper to walk on. It’s not even 9:30 yet, but he still cares enough to check anyway. The ground is cool, so he gently tugs on the leash for the dog to follow him.

He makes his way to the nearest bus station which happened to be 20 blocks away, arriving 15 minutes early. He’s a little surprised to see that Law’s already there, currently holding his daughter’s hand and a rather large colourful beach bag slung over his shoulder.

Instead of long blue jeans and a dress shirt, which Luffy’s only seen him in twice, he’s wearing black swim trunks with polar bears decorating the bottom, a pair of sunglasses perched on top of his head and a yellow t-shirt with a weird smiley printed on the front. Ruby is wearing a pink diving suit, large goggles on her head and floaties on her arms.

He can see Ruby talking up to her father about something, and Law sits on the bench to pull out a bottle of sunscreen. He squeezes a few drops onto his hand and rubs it on her face gently. The older man actually _giggles_ when Ruby wipes her finger across her forehead and uses it to draw on Law’s cheek, making small smiley faces. Law laughs and doesn’t rub them off.

It’s an adorable scene to watch, until Chopper starts barking at both Law and Ruby, drawing their attention towards himself and his dog. He pulls off his hat and leaves it to hang around his neck by the string as he walks closer to the bench to show that it’s him.  He waves at them both.

Law looks over in his direction, smiling. “You’re finally here. Glad you took the time to dress up for me.”

Luffy realizes he’s flirting again, and it makes his cheeks turn a little pink. He looks down at his sunflower shirt and red swimming trunks; he laughs and shakes his head in amusement. “Sorry to keep you waiting, old man,” Luffy smirks. “But I wanted to look nice for our first day out.”

He hesitates when he says day because it almost sounds like date, and he thinks about punching himself. This is definitely not a date; no one brings their kid on a date.

Law barks out a laugh and says, “Very stylish. But do you know what it’s like to keep an old man like me waiting? I think all the gray hairs I have multiplied in the time it took to wait for you.”

Luffy snickers and opens his mouth to make a retort until Ruby squeals, “Doggy!” He raises his eyebrows in confusion, until he remembers that he brought Chopper along with him. The canine is sitting beside him and panting hard from the heat. “Can I pet him?”

He’s about to nod his head until he quickly turns to Law and says, “Wait, she’s not allergic to dogs, is she?”

He’ll be damned if Ruby is. Luffy doesn’t know if she’s riddled with allergies, and it could completely mess up their plans, and he’d be the one to blame. He really wants whatever relationship he has right now with Law to work. He doesn’t want to fuck it up by bringing his dog to the beach and getting his daughter sick.

His brain needs to shut up sometimes.

Thankfully, Law shakes his head no. “As long as he doesn’t bite, then it’s alright.”

Luffy looks down at the dog; yeah, those huge brown eyes and his cute furry face definitely scream _dangerous animal,_ _do not approach_. He laughs and tells him that no, he doesn’t and that yes, Ruby can pet him.

She does so, and she tugs on the dog’s short ears causing Chopper to whimper a little, but he doesn’t do anything else other than lick at her hands. She giggles happily and starts to hug him, though it looks more like she’s squeezing him.

“I think Chopper’s starting to like her,” Luffy says, watching the dog’s eyes widen from the crushing hug. “I hope you don’t mind me bringing him, I don’t remember the last time I took him out of the house.”

 

“It’s alright,” Law reassures him. “He’s adorable. How long have you had him?”

“Um,” he thinks for a second. “About… six years, I think?”

“Well, I’m glad Ruby’s playing with a friend about her age,” Law says, smiling at him.

He lets out a laugh and nods in agreement. “Yeah, both our kids seem to be getting along pretty well.”

“Yeah,” he replies with a laugh. “Anyway, the bus should be here any second now.”

Luffy nods his head and watches Chopper play with the girl. Meanwhile, he takes a seat on the bench and pulls his phone out of his bag, contemplating whether he wants to call Nami or Zoro for advice because he’s still feeling a little anxious. But that train of thought is put on hold when the bus pulls up in front of them.

-0-

The bus ride is a little awkward. Well, ‘a little’ is kind of an understatement.

Is being stuffed into a bus like a pack of sardines and being squashed against other total strangers awkward? No. It’s actually really fucking uncomfortable. He tells himself that after months of taking the bus to and from work, he should be used to it by now.

He’s not. And he’s guessing the others aren’t either.

Ruby is sitting on one of the hard, dirty plastic seats. She doesn’t complain, but the constant squirming is disrupting the other passengers on either side of her. Meanwhile Law is gripping on one of the gross poles placed in the middle of the bus, frowning from watching his daughter squirm on the cramped seats. He’s currently giving out death glares to any passengers that tell Ruby to stop being an annoying brat and that she should keep still.

He can tell Chopper definitely isn’t having the time of his life either; he swears the dog started _growling_ when someone ‘accidentally’ stepped on one of his paws.

Obviously he isn’t enjoying himself either. He’s also grabbing the same pole as Law, and his face is practically _squashed_ against Law’s chest, his nose buried in his shirt. He’s so close that when he looks up he can make out all of the little gray hairs in his goatee, something he didn’t notice the last time he was this close to the older man.

He can also see the faded sunscreen smileys on his cheek. He snickers, and Law can tell what he’s laughing about.

Every time he breathes he’s also taking in the faintest hints of Law’s aftershave, body wash and sunscreen. Luffy won’t deny that he smells really good, and it takes his mind off the current situation. But at the same time he’s starting to feel embarrassed about it because of all the strange glances they’re receiving, and he’s tempted to hide his face in Law’s chest.

The thing that irks him the most about this bus ride is that, okay, Luffy knows it’s not every day you see a guy and his canine companion, along with his male friend and a young child riding on a bus together. A scenario like that can definitely let people get the wrong idea.

He can tell what these people are probably thinking just from their reactions. They earn themselves a couple of dirty looks from a few men and women, along with a few wary glances from an elderly couple sitting near them by the window.

One of them men started whispering something into a woman’s ear, and she laughs. It was something disgusting that got both Law and Luffy to turn around and glare at them, hoping their intense staring would burn holes into their skulls.

This stupid bus ride is shit, and the people that are riding it and judging them are shit.

These people can go fuck themselves for all he cares.

If he were that kind of person, he could’ve let Chopper have a go at most of them. But luckily he is not that kind of person. Chopper is an amazing dog, and the thought of him harming anyone else frightens even himself.

Wow, his thoughts are starting to get really fucking morbid. Well, whatever, these people are just pissing him off, alright?

He can tell Law’s also getting a strange vibe from the other passengers, but he ignores it so easily and it makes Luffy wonder if this kind of thing happens to him often, or if he just doesn’t give a rat’s ass. Luffy hopes it’s the latter.

Ruby seems a little unfazed by the rude comments on her constant movement; Luffy wishes he could also be like her.

A mother and her child are sitting near them, and she rudely comments on Law’s tattoos and piercings to her son, and he laughs. Law’s eyebrow twitches until Ruby tells them both to stop making fun of her father, and she looked _appalled_ at her ‘outburst.’

Then this woman has the nerve to actually _scold_ the girl, that a man like that can’t be a good parent for her.

Okay, no. That was really fucking uncalled for.

He’s fighting the urge to tell them that just because someone like Law has both tattoos and piercings, doesn’t make him a shitty parent. Its parents like her that pisses him off the most.

He can feel Law looking down at him with concern clearly written on his face, and he asks if he’s alright. His eyebrows are knitted together and face feels hot from internal rage, but he grits his teeth anyway to tell him that yes, he’s totally fine. Law isn’t buying it, but he really doesn’t want the older man to worry about him. So he calms down for his sake.

One of the elders is also looking at Law, and Luffy is glaring at them, daring them to say something else about him. But apparently they’re having a nice, civil conversation when he hears Law say, “Oh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Miller. Ruby, Ruby, look, it’s Mrs. Miller. Remember her? She’s the lady who made your birthday cake last year.”

He relaxes the muscles in his face, and Law absentmindedly pats his shoulder to calm him down some more.

“H-hi,” she says shyly, as though she’d never even met the old woman before. “Thank you for the cake.”

“Of course, dear,” she smiles, and she notices Luffy’s face pushed up against Law’s chest. “Is he with you?”

“I’m sorry?” Law asks, puzzled.

“I mean, is he your partner?” The woman gives them an amused smile.

Luffy’s heart skips a beat at her question. He desperately hopes Law didn’t feel _that._

Law shakes his head politely. “No, he’s a friend of mine,” he replies. Luffy nods his head in agreement, and his nose nudges against Law’s shirt when he does.

The kind old woman gives them a friendly laugh. “That’s a shame. You two just look so lovely together.”

Calm down there, Mrs. Miller.

The old man sitting beside her, who Luffy assumes is her husband, grumbles, “Did you forget that he’s already married, Lucy?”

What?

Law’s married?

Luffy doesn’t recall seeing a ring on his finger at all.

“Ooh, right! Law, speaking of which, how is Bonney doing? We haven’t seen her around in a while. We’d love to have you both and your lovely little girl over for dinner some time.”

Maybe he just forgets to put it on?

He can sense Law’s head turning away when his chin brushes against the top of his head, hoping that would let the old couple know that he no longer wants to talk. Luffy can feel his heart pounding so hard against his cheek that it almost sounds like it’s going to give out. He looks up at him in utter confusion.

“I don’t think so, Mrs. Miller,” Law finally says. “Bonney and I split up years ago.”

Mr. Miller shakes his head in shame. “Aww, well, that’s too bad.”

“How did that happen?” Mrs. Miller asks, mildly horrified.

Law looks over at Ruby and turns back to face Mrs. Miller again, and then he says, “I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

And at that point, Luffy realized something: he doesn’t know a _thing_ about this guy. He also realizes that he never even taken the time to get to know Law better, other than he knows that the older man plays guitar really well and that he has a daughter. This situation just makes Law feel more like a stranger to him.

He’s about to open his mouth to speak when the bus comes to a sudden halt, completely throwing him off balance and smashing his face into the unsanitary metal pole. He grabs his mouth after crashing to the filthy floor of the bus.

“Are you alright, Luffy?” Law exclaims, holding out a hand for him to take.

“Yeah, ‘m good,” he muffles through the fingers over his mouth.

He takes hold of Law’s hand and Law lifts him up to get him back on his feet. His mouth really fucking hurts, but right now he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit about it.

He just can’t stop thinking about Law’s response to Mrs. Miller’s question. It’s still lingering in his mind when he and Law, along with Chopper and Ruby are making their way to the front of the bus.

-0-

The smell of the sea hits them as the doors of the bus open. Both men grab their bags; they take each of Ruby’s hands in theirs to walk her down the steep steps of the bus while Luffy carries Chopper in the other, and land on the wet, creaky boardwalk that leads straight down to the shore.

The bus takes off moments after a couple of other passengers exit too, and they move out of each other’s way as they march off in different directions.

Ruby is squealing from excitement, and Luffy can tell she wants to run towards the beach but they’re both still holding each of her hands, stopping her from doing so.

The sound of crashing waves and seagulls screaming can be heard from where they’re standing. There’s a small old building at the end of the boardwalk, with restroom signs hanging haphazardly from both doors. An ice cream truck is parked near it, playing a creepy tune from its worn out, old speakers.

But other than the shitty bathrooms and the ominous-looking ice cream truck, the weather looks pretty clear. It’s a little windy but it’s still warm enough for Luffy to tug off his shirt and stuff it into his bag as they walk down to the beach.

Law’s not looking at him as they walk across further down the boardwalk, or maybe he is and Luffy just can’t tell because of his sunglasses. He’s silent, and it’s even more uncomfortable than the song the ice cream truck is poorly repeating.

They finally reach the beach, and Luffy and Law both let go of Ruby’s hands, letting her roam freely around the area.

“Okay, Rubes, you can go down to the shore, but be careful. If you can’t see us, then we can’t see you, alright?” Law says.

The girl yells her reply of, “Yes, daddy!” as she continues to run down to the shore. He and Law are a few paces back, walking down the sandy slope.

Luffy pulls the straw hat over his head again, protecting his hair from the winds blowing wet sand into it. He also adjusts his backpack as he follows right behind Law, constantly tugging on the leash for Chopper to follow, and then he unhooks him so he can follow after Ruby.

Meanwhile, they begin to look for a dry spot to leave their things at. They find a small, shaded area underneath a few palm trees, and they pull out their own towels to lay over the sand.

When they’re done, they sit on their own towels in silence. It’s painfully quiet for a while until Law suddenly asks, “So I guess you’re wondering what happened back on the bus?”

It catches him off guard, and he straightens up. “What are you talking about?” he lies.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Law presses.

Luffy sighs a little and waves his hand dismissively. “If this is about that talk between you and that old lady back on the bus, then it’s no big deal. I’m not gonna ask what happened between you and this Bonney lady, or whatev—“

“Of course it is. I know it concerns you, Luffy,” Law cuts him off, but he’s not even looking at him as he speaks. “I could tell how uncomfortable you felt back on the bus.”

Luffy huffs and hums to show that he’s listening.

And as if Law could read his mind, he says, “I’m probably just some stranger to you right now. You hardly know anything about me and I know how much it irks you. And I feel really fucking terrible about it.”

He still doesn’t respond, but he nods his head anyway.

“But if I- I mean we,” he corrects himself, “want whatever we have right now to work, then maybe I should tell you what happened.” He sits on the towel and pats the spot on his left side.

Luffy feels a little unsure. “Do you really want to talk about this?”

Law nods his head. “Yes. I don’t want us to keep secrets from each other because I kinda like you, too, and—“

“Law,” Luffy presses. “I understand that you don’t want to keep secrets. But this is something you don’t have to tell me about. You can tell me about it another time when you’re ready, okay?”

The older man sits there in silence for a few moments, and then he nods his head to show that he understands. “Thank you.”

Luffy holds out his arms to pull Law into a hug. Then he says, “We can still talk about whatever we want.”

Law smiles when Luffy shifts himself to sit on the towel right next to him.

-0-

A couple of hours pass, and Law and Luffy are still sitting underneath the shade of the palm trees, talking about anything and everything that comes to mind.

Law tells him about his previous job as a heart surgeon, and how he quit his job a few years ago because of an incident. Luffy doesn’t push him to talk about it; he’s not sitting here to force Law to discuss the things that make him unhappy.

He continues to tell him about how he wanted to open up his own tattoo parlor. He tells him about his sister Lami, who comes by to check in on both him and Ruby. Luffy smiles when the older man tells him the story of what it was like to adopt and raise Ruby over the past four years.

Luffy’s happy that Law’s happy to share things like that with him. Law asks him to talk about himself moments later after laughing about what Law told him it was like to potty train Ruby.

He begins by telling him about his older brothers that live across the country. He tells him about his home back in New Jersey, and that his brothers were the ones that encouraged him to play music. He tells him about his dream of becoming a famous musician. He got to be one for a couple of years, but he settled to become a music teacher instead.

They’re just about done talking when Ruby runs back up to them, and she’s completely covered in wet sand and sea water, gripping what looks like a large beach shovel.

“Daddy, me and Chopper are digging a hole and we want one of you to go in it,” Ruby exclaims. “Please?”

Law and Luffy both exchange glances, until Luffy shouts, “Not it!”

He cackles when Ruby attempts to pull him off the towel, and he sighs, “Why me?”

-0-

“All done!” the small redhead announces, holding up her wet sand-clad hands in victory.

They’re all staring at Law, whose body is currently neck-deep in sand. Luffy laughs and he squats down next to Law’s damp and sandy head poking out of the ground. “I’m gonna go get my phone because this is totally going on your fridge.”

Law’s face goes from amusement to embarrassment in a split second, and he shakes his head vigorously, causing the sand around his neck to sink a bit. “Don’t do it, man.”

That only causes him to laugh harder. “Try and stop me!”

Luffy continues to laugh and runs back to their bags that are right next to where their towels are laid out. He digs into his own bag and pulls out his cell phone, and he’s dragging his sandy feet all over the towels as he does so.

He runs back and jumps over Law’s head, accidentally kicking some of the sand into his hair. “Luffy, you little-!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Luffy pants, unable to wipe the smug grin from his face. “Ruby, you can get in the photo, too. This is gonna go on your dad’s fridge.”

She beams at him and squats down on the other side of Law’s head into the frame, and Luffy quickly snaps a picture. He gets up and sprints away before Law can even get the chance to headbutt his knee.

His head slams against the sand, and Ruby’s already laughing so hard that she gets hiccups.

“Do it,” – hic – “again!” Ruby shouts gleefully, clapping her small hands excitedly.

“I want you to know that I’m totally flipping you off under all of this sand!” he shouts at Luffy, trying and failing to sound annoyed.

Luffy grins at him. “Do you want us to dig you out now?”

“Desperately,” Law begs. “I can feel sand riding up in my shirt and trunks.”

He rubs his hands together and cups them, scooping out the sand near Law’s neck. “Hey, Ruby, you wanna help your daddy out?”

“Nah,” she hiccups again, smiling mischievously as she runs back to the bags. Law pouts at her and calls for Chopper to come, but the small canine is asleep. Luffy laughs because when Chopper’s asleep, the only sound that will wake him up is the sound of a can opener.

“Guess you’re outta luck,” Luffy grins toothily, then he groans out in pain when Law finally headbutts his ankle.

“Get me out of here, you dumbass,” he laughs.

Luffy chuckles and nods his head, continuing to dig the older man out. After about ten minutes of digging, and with some assistance from Ruby’s large shovel, Law stumbles to get out of the hole.

“Can you even get out of there?” Luffy asks, unable to stop grinning. “Want me to go fetch your cane?”

“Shut up,” Law says, slightly amused. “Those old man jokes are starting to get old.”

“Ironic, huh? Luffy snickers. “But you fucking love them because they’re funny and I’m the one telling them.”

“Yeah, yeah, totally,” Law grumbles. Luffy _knows_ he just loves them.

Luffy wraps his arms around Law’s abdomen, and he starts to pull him out of the sand no problem. Law’s body is absolutely covered in wet sand, and it’s clinging to his clothes and hair and goatee. “Damn, Luffy. For a piano player you seem to have the strength of Godzilla or The Hulk or whatever.”

“Yeah, I actually lift the piano when no one’s around as exercise,” Luffy jokes, flexing his arm to show off his muscles. “There’s actually this place called a gym.”

“Alright, smartass,” Law smirks as he attempts to dust the sand from off his clothes. “Hmm, I’m gonna go in the water to wash this off. Now, where is my daughter?”

Law looks around for Ruby and they find her sitting next to Chopper who’s now fully awake and licking the salt water off of her floaties that are on the towel. Luffy’s impressed that Ruby’s managed to wake him up.

He turns back around to find that Law’s already gone, and he’s nowhere in sight. “Law?” Slightly panicked, he runs into the water and goes as far as he can stand on the sand, shouting, “Law?!”

There’s a dark blur in the ocean, and a figure rises out of the water. It’s Law, thank god, because Luffy thought he’d drowned already or something. The older man flicks his head back to shake the water and sand out of it, and some of it splashes on Luffy’s face.

“My eyes!” Luffy screams, “I’m blind, Traffy!”

“Aw, really?” Law says, spitting sea water out of his mouth. “I thought my graceful rise out of the water would have at least left you staring in amazement.”

“That was some fucking Free Willy shit right there,” Luffy grins as he blinks his eyes carefully.

“Are you trying to say that I’m fat?” Law sounds offended, but Luffy knows he’s only kidding.

“Maybe,” Luffy’s mouth splits into a toothy grin, until he’s spluttering underneath the water from Law’s hand pushing him down.

He comes back up a few seconds later and coughs up water, pounding at his chest.

“You… ass,” he breathes out between coughs. “I… can’t…. swim.”

Law laughs until he realizes that Luffy won’t stop choking. “Shit, are you alright?” Law asks, completely concerned. He slaps his hand against Luffy’s back, and Luffy takes this as an opportunity to return the favor by dunking _him_ underwater.

Law’s arms begin to flail above the surface, surrounded by air bubbles until Luffy lifts his hand from his head. He’s howling with laughter at this point and he feels like his lungs are going to give out.

“Take that, bitch,” Luffy cackles. Law rises back up to the surface and swears, muttering something about how he can’t swim either.

“You’re the… bitch,” Law huffs. Luffy barks out a laugh at the terrible retort.

“Ooh, you’re calling me a bitch now? What are we,” Luffy breathes, trying to calm himself down, “in fourth grade?”

“Guess I’m not as old as you say I am,” Law smirks. Then he says, “This shirt is too heavy to wear in the water. I’m gonna go put it by the towels, so don’t drown by the time I come back.”

Luffy finally calms his already beating heart from constant laughter, but then he feels it pick back up when Law walks out of the water and onto the shore, this time with his yellow t-shirt in his hands.

He can see the definition of his tanned back muscles and shoulders, and the same mark that was on his shirt is tattooed on his back. He bites his bottom lip as he watches the water droplets fall, over the curve of his shoulder blades, and below the waistband of his trunks.

…Jesus christ.

Law is fucking fit and Luffy just can’t bring himself to look away.

“Enjoying the view?” Law says, looking back at his slightly red face. “You’d better put some sunblock on your cheeks. They’re starting to look a little red.”

Luffy gulps and splashes the cool seawater on his burning face, turning away so he wouldn’t have to watch Law make his way back to the beach bags.

When he comes back, it feels like his heart is going to stop beating. Even his muscle-clad chest and shoulders are clad with heart-shaped tattoos, and Luffy still can’t bring himself to stop staring at him.

“Having fun?” Law asks, and he’s got the fucking smuggest look on his face right now.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Law must be some kind of fucking angel sent from the heavens just to screw with Luffy’s head.

“Shut up, Traffy,” Luffy says, sticking out his tongue childishly. “Where’d you get the tattoos? The one on your back looks like a pirate’s Jolly Roger. It’s rad as fuck.”

Law turns around to look at his own tattoos. “A friend of mine did my ink for me when I was 16, I think?” Law says, tapping his chin as he thinks. “That’s what got me to open up my own tattoo parlor.”

“That sounds pretty cool,” Luffy says, then he grins, “Maybe you could put a tattoo on me one day,” he jokes.

The older man chuckles and he starts drifting closer to Luffy. “You could stop by one day when I’m at the shop.”

He continues to drift, and Luffy doesn’t think it’s the water that’s causing him to get closer. “Maybe I will.”

Law immediately pushes himself away from Luffy when Ruby calls out “Daddy!”, causing Luffy to frown from the loss of contact.

“Uhm, yes, Ruby? What’s up?” Law calls out to her. His cheeks look a bit flushed.

“I’m cold, and I wanna go home,” she whines, visibly shivering underneath her large pink towel.

“Aw, alright,” Law replies, then he looks at Luffy and asks, “You wanna head home too?”

Luffy shrugs as a reply. “I guess. What time is it, anyway?”

“Time for you to get a watch,” Law jokes.

“That’s the oldest fucking joke in the world,” Luffy replies, grinning. The older man laughs and lifts up his wrist to look at his own watch.

“It’s like, 2 o’clock. Do you wanna grab some food from somewhere before we drop you back home?”

Luffy’s eyes widen at Law’s question. “Food?”

Law chuckles at his reaction as they start walking out of the water and towards the warm towels. Luffy’s ass is already starting to freeze, and his trunks feel like ice.

“Did you say food?” Ruby says, her face lighting up in the same way Luffy’s probably did.

“Do you have anything in mind, Rubes?” Law asks, pulling a towel out of the bag. Luffy snatches both towels from his own bag and underneath Chopper’s sleeping form, scaring the dog as he does so.

“Umm,” Ruby hums, until Luffy says, “Take out?”

“How does that sound to you?” Law asks the redhead, and she nods excitedly, screaming, “Yes!”

“Cool,” Law says, smiling. “Let’s get going before someone starts chewing on Chopper’s leg.”

The dog whines in concern, and Luffy laughs. “He’s kidding, boy.”

Law begins to pack Ruby’s goggles, deflated floaties and the towel lying on the sand, while Luffy hooks the leash back on Chopper, picks up his bag and his hat. He swings one of the towels around his neck, and leaves the other one tied around his waist.

“Let’s take a cab instead of the stupid bus,” Luffy tells him, and Law quickly nods his head in agreement.

Though as he would rather sit in the bus and let the salty smell of the sea bother the other passengers, he wouldn’t mind being squeezed into a cab next to Law again.

He almost fucked up in the beginning, but now he thinks he can totally make this work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just wanna clear up one thing: yes, i decided to make bonney the girl that used to be with law because i didn't really want to make another character so i went with her. i love her btw, and she was basically the first person i thought of.. she'll pop up later on in the story. maybe.
> 
> hope you enjoyed it~  
> mugiwarakun <3


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